Health-e-Weight for Women

What does the audio track in your head sound like? Is there a pattern? There seems to be a close relationship between what people think, how it makes them feel, and their subsequent behavior. If your goal is long-term weight loss, you should get familiar with what your "inner dialogue" is saying. Very often, these repetitive thoughts are negative and self-defeating.

By paying attention to the statements you make about yourself, about others, about food- and weight-related issues, you can make changes toward a more positive way of thinking. These guidelines can help you make an important step in that direction.

Goals

• To become aware of the "thought tapes" in your head - the self-statements that can produce success or failure in a weight-loss program.
• To become aware of the factors that help you maintain these thoughts, which will help you note the behaviors that support them.
• To restructure and change your negative statements into positive ones.

How To's

1. Recognize that the factors that contribute to overeating and negative self-statements are related to your thought process and, therefore, can be looked at and dealt with. You may be unaware of them now, but they are available for scrutiny.
2. Evaluate your inner dialogue and the negative and/or positive self-instructions that result from it. What are the things you say to yourself in your attempt to cope? What do you say to yourself that seems to produce success or failure?
3. Listen to the positive and negative statements that others make. This can help you recognize statements that may be a result of someone's inner dialogue.
4. Determine behaviorally what would be an appropriate dialogue - one that would produce success for the various situations that you often face. (Behaviorally means to write down, categorize and then examine the consequences.)
5. Practice this new, positive dialogue. When you have decided on a sentence or slogan, say it aloud into a mirror. Keep rehearsing it until it feels right and you're comfortable with it.
6. Practice stopping negative, self-defeating statements. When you recognize an old, useless tape starting to play, say STOP and switch your thoughts immediately to the new statements you have prepared and practiced.

Examples of Positive Dialogue

"I have the power to eat better with one small change at a time."

"If I overeat today, that's okay. I can continue to work on my new habits at the next meal. I'm not a bad person!"

No time to exercise? "I'm not lazy, I need to plan some realistic times to work in my exercise, starting at twice a week."

"One piece of dessert per week won't put on weight, several pieces will."

Copyright 2002 Brigham and Women's Hospital